Cooperative minimally invasive telesurgical system

Abstract

Improved robotic surgical systems, devices, and methods include selectably associatable master/slave pairs, often having more manipulator arms than will be moved simultaneously by the two hands of a surgeon. Four manipulator arms can support an image capture device, a left hand tissue manipulation tool, a right hand tissue manipulation tool, and a fourth surgical instrument, particularly for stabilizing, retracting, tool change, or other functions benefiting from intermittent movement. The four or more arms may sequentially be controlled by left and right master input control devices. The fourth arm may be used to support another image capture device, and control of some or all of the arms may be transferred back-and-forth between the operator and an assistant. Two or more robotic systems each having master controls and slave manipulators may be coupled to enable cooperative surgery between two or more operators.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A medical training method comprising:
 receiving a first command from a first master control; 
 receiving a second command from a second master control; and 
 commanding an object to be moved according to a user selected percentage of control between the first and second commands. 
 
     
     
       2. The medical training method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 applying a resistance against movement of the first master control such that the resistance is indicative of a difference between the first command and the commanded movement of the object. 
 
     
     
       3. The medical training method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving an indication of the user selected percentage of control from an input device. 
 
     
     
       4. The medical training method of  claim 3 , wherein the input device comprises a dial having a number of discrete settings, and wherein the receiving the user selected percentage of control from the input device comprises:
 receiving an indication of a dial setting from the dial. 
 
     
     
       5. The medical training method of  claim 3 , wherein the input device comprises a foot pedal having a number of discrete settings, and wherein the receiving the user selected percentage of control from the input device comprises:
 receiving an indication of a foot pedal setting from the foot pedal. 
 
     
     
       6. A medical training method comprising:
 receiving a first command from a first master control; 
 receiving a second command from a second master control; and 
 commanding an object to be moved according to a percentage of control between the first and second commands while applying a resistance against movement of the first master control such that the resistance is indicative of a difference between the first command and the commanded movement of the object.